Carlist Rieekan
Carlist Rieekan was an Alderaanian Human male general who, throughout his life, served the Galactic Empire, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, and the New Republic. He joined the Imperial Army at the age of seventeen before eventually rejecting the New Order. Instead, he chose to serve the Royal House of Alderaan as a civilian tactician, before becoming one of the founding members of the Alliance to Restore the Republic, a rebellion against the rule of the Emperor. When the Imperial Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin brought the Death Star superweapon to bear on Alderaan, Rieekan was at nearby Delaya. He received a massive influx of distress calls and requests for evacuation, but hesitated to aid Alderaan, as he felt that his involvement would have implicated Alderaan at large as having ties to the illegal rebellion movement. Within minutes, Tarkin's battlestation fired its superlaser, destroying Aldera in a flash. Rieekan was shattered, and blamed himself for the disaster, as he felt his hesitation had cost many Alderaanians their lives. The incident took its toll on Rieekan, as he became an overly morose and paranoid man. He was later tasked with command of the Alliance's Echo Base on Hoth, and also worked closely with the pilot Luke Skywalker's Rogue Squadron unit. Over the years, Rieekan collaborated with the Alderaanian princess, Leia Organa, and his insistence on thorough security and evacuation measures after the destruction of his homeworld proved instrumental to the Alliance when Lord Darth Vader's Death Squadron moved against Echo Base. Rieekan later oversaw Haven Base on Arbra, and would go on to serve as Minister of State and Director of Intelligence for the New Republic, the Alliance's successor state. The general eventually retired, only to be brought back into service during the Yuuzhan Vong War, during which he aided in the failed defense of Coruscant. Biography Early career Carlist Rieekan grew up on the peaceful world of Alderaan and left at the age of seventeen to join the Imperial Academy which was an unusual choice for an Alderaanian.The Last Command Sourcebook Demonstrating strong leadership skills, Rieekan quickly rose through the ranks and came to serve in the Imperial Army, where his keen grasp of tactics and, once again, his leadership skills impressed his superiors. There, he befriended other idealists such as Jan Dodonna, Adar Tallon, and Crix Madine. After seeing the atrocities the Empire committed first hand, Rieekan chose to stick to his beliefs and refused to continue serving the regime. He instead served the Royal House of Alderaan as a civilian tactician, and then helped found the Alliance to Restore the Republic, an organization dedicated to throwing off Empire's hold on the galaxy. In his new role, Rieekan found himself once again amongst like-minded individuals, many of them hailing from Alderaan. Personality and traits Carlist Rieekan was perceived by his men to be a grim and stern man, who was in a constant state of worry and concern. The general was in fact, quiet and unassuming. Initially, he had been an optimist, but after blaming himself for the destruction of Aldera, he became morose and grim. Even in the ensuing months, memories of the event haunted him. He fought because he felt it was his duty to avert any potential disasters or tragedies that might occur in the future, even though he did not particularly want to. Rieekan tried to make sure that he never risked the lives of those under his command, and decided to act with aggressive caution following the Alderaan incident, when he once would have acted with confident subtlety. He rarely put his emotions on display, and instead constantly retained his determined demeanor. While commanding at Echo Base, Rieekan's grim and downbeat mood was misunderstood by most, but engineer Ken Monnon possessed a complete understanding of the general's past, and would not tolerate any complaints about Rieekan's demeanor from his men. After the evacuation of Hoth, Rieekan would continue to be haunted further, by the deaths of the Alliance soldiers who had made the ultimate sacrifice as Echo Base was evacuated. Despite his stern and businesslike demeanor, General Rieekan could still appreciate humor, as shown when he thoroughly enjoyed himself and frequently laughed hysterically during a trip to the circus. Following the liberation of Coruscant, Rieekan grew more optimistic, and a visual change in his demeanor was noted by his colleagues. He stuck by his ideals, and lived by them, which led him to gravitate towards fellow soldiers with similar mindsets. Rieekan possessed natural leadership skills, which allowed him to rapidly rise through the ranks of the Imperial Army. He eventually disagreed with the Empire's policies to such an extent that he felt a need to do significant damage to the New Order. Rieekan also admired Viceroy Bail Organa, hailing him as a trustworthy man. The general felt grief for Organa's loss during the destruction of Aldera. Later, when Rieekan was in the Coronet Capital Tower as it was being attacked by Imperial forces, he was genuinely more concerned about the lives of the innocent people within, rather than his own. Rieekan was a strong and able tactician, and had been so from an early age. His vast knowledge in that area made him a highly effective base commander. He was not amused by flippancy, but while he did not always agree with men like Captain Han Solo, he could still acknowledge that they were genuinely good people. In return, he was perceived as a good soldier. Rieekan cared for his men—so much so that he once privately admitted that he "bleeds when they bleed, and dies when they die." Even though he was able to make sacrifices, he never found the task of sending men to their deaths easy. As such, Rieekan would personally wish his troops good luck as they ventured into combat. Later in his career, faced with an expensive recovery mission when the Teljkon Vagabond entered hyperspace with Lando Calrissian aboard, Rieekan was loathe to abandon an ally of the New Republic purely because the operation would be expensive. Later, Rieekan was taken aback by Colonel Pakkpekatt's adamant insistence that he find and assist Calrissian when he was stranded on the Vagabond. Although Rieekan usually was strict with his orders and mandates, he relaxed the rules slightly for Pakkpekatt, and warned the colonel not to try his patience. The general once commented on the modus operandi of the Katarn Commandos, who were answerable to the New Republic Chief of State, but were allowed to determine specifically how their missions were conducted internally. Rieekan's summation was that the process was like "tossing a nest of fire wasps into a bursa's lair and seeing what happens next." He was also incisive—during the Black Fleet Crisis, he was able to divine Viceroy Spaar's intentions based on his actions quicker than Chief of State Organa Solo could. The general was respected amongst the command hierarchy, with people such as Admiral Ackbar holding the belief that they could rely on him for support in testing times.Star Wars: Dark Apprentice Rieekan would demonstrate his support for his fellow officers in such cases as Supreme Commander Sovv's disciplinary hearing at the hands of Chief of State Fey'lya during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Coruscant. In addition to his military skills, Rieekan could also understand Basic, Ithorese, Mon Calamarian, Shyriiwook, and Sullustese. Appearances *''Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back'' }} Notes and references Category:Alderaanians Category:Alliance Army generals Category:Bureaucrats Category:Humans Category:Males Category:New Republic Army generals Category:New Republic bureaucrats Category:Task Force on Alliance Security personnel Category:Imperial Navy personnel of the Galactic Empire Category:Inhabitants of Alderaan